This morning I found out that something must have happened to my hair dryer over night and it no longer worked. A bit distressing in the morning and you can be sure that I set out this evening to replace it. As I was considering my options, I was surprised to see that one of the hair dryers has an App at the app store. I began to wonder what that App might do? And then I chuckled as I set that box down, I do not need an App for my hair dryer.
I remember when I was doing adoption training to families and we would discuss how much stimulation there is for a child in the cereal aisle. The images they recognize from TV, the colors, pictures and prizes that lure them to this cereal box and that cereal box. And when a child thinks they pick the one they want, they see another one and the difficulty of choosing starts all over again. For children who grow up shopping those aisles, they learn to process the stimulation, but for an orphan from another country, the experience of the cereal aisle can be physically painful.
And now children and adults alike are navigating the App Store on their productivity tools (Smart Phones, Ipads, computers). 500,000 apps to choose from. Honestly, how can a choice truly be made?
Within 500,000 apps there are apps that list 7800 Beer Brands, 170,000 Recipes, 18,000 jokes, 50,000 baby names, 9,999 ring tones….
I think you get my point. Has this also gone to far? Do we really need so many options?
I recently was told to shop at Aldi’s because the best thing about it is they keep it simple. I read this on their home page: At ALDI, our philosophy is also the foundation for our less-is-more approach to grocery retailing.
I wonder where all the choices we face ever day, from cereal to apps (and many other spaces of our day-to-day life) create more confusion than freedom…..
I will be considering this in my life and commit again to simplifying where ever I can! And tonight that was by drawing the line on not buying a hair dryer that has an App…..
Choose well and live freely!
